Earnings Results: Square gives upbeat earnings forecast as stock rises

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Shares of Square Inc. were up more than 5% in aftermarket trading Wednesday after the payments company posted better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter and delivered an upbeat forecast.

Square SQ, -0.60%  posted net income of $390.9 million, or 83 cents a share. A year prior, the company recorded a net loss of $28.2 million, or 7 cents a share.

After for share-based compensation and non-recurring expenses, Square’s fourth-quarter earnings per share increased to 23 cents from 14 cents a year prior, and came in above the FactSet consensus, which called for 21 cents.

Revenue rose to $1.31 billion from $933 million, while analysts were expecting $1.19 billion.

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Square’s gross payment volume for the quarter came in at $28.6 billion, up from $22.6 billion in the year-earlier period and slightly ahead of the FactSet consensus, which modeled $28.5 billion. The company disclosed that 54% of volume came from sellers doing upwards of $125,000 in annualized gross payment volume, compared with 52% in the prior December quarter.

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For the second quarter, Square expects adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents to 18 cents on revenue of $1.34 billion to $1.36 billion. The FactSet consensus was for adjusted EPS of 16 cents and revenue of $1.2 billion. For the full year ahead, Square is modeling adjusted EPS of 90 cents to 94 cents and revenue of $5.9 billion to $5.96 billion. Analysts are currently modeling 94 cents in adjusted EPS and $5.68 billion in revenue.

Square shares have added 22% this year, as the S&P 500 SPX, -0.38%  has dropped about 3%.